{"id":11836,"date":"2026-01-20T12:34:39","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T12:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/?p=11836"},"modified":"2026-01-20T12:34:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T12:34:39","slug":"duran-vazquez-kloobs-vinum-sabbati-in-the-dawn-of-science-fiction-reviewed-by-chain-dlk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/?p=11836","title":{"rendered":"Dur\u00e1n V\u00e1zquez + Kloob\u2019s \u201cVinum Sabbati: In the Dawn of Science Fiction\u201d reviewed by Chain DLK"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cronicaelectronica.org\/243\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cronica243-2025_1440-1024x1024.jpg\" alt=\"Cover of Vinum Sabbati: In the Dawn of Science Fiction\" class=\"wp-image-11790\" style=\"width:520px\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cronica243-2025_1440-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cronica243-2025_1440-260x260.jpg 260w, http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cronica243-2025_1440-150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cronica243-2025_1440-768x768.jpg 768w, http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/cronica243-2025_1440.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>There are albums that flirt with darkness, and then there are albums that&nbsp;<em>brew&nbsp;<\/em>it slowly, like a dubious tincture simmering in a back room where the light never quite arrives. &#8220;Vinum Sabbati, In the Dawn of Science Fiction&#8221; belongs to the latter. Dur\u00e1n V\u00e1zquez and Kloob don\u2019t just reference Arthur Machen\u2019s unsettling &#8220;Novel of the White Powder&#8221; &#8211; they distill it, inhale the fumes, and then calmly invite the listener to do the same, warning label already peeled off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Both artists come with long electronic pedigrees, but this is not a nostalgic handshake between veterans. V\u00e1zquez, long associated with Cr\u00f3nica\u2019s austere and conceptually sharp catalog, brings a rigorously hands-on approach to sound: no generative tricks, no algorithmic safety nets, just legacy software pushed until it starts behaving like a nervous system. Kloob, whose path runs from subterranean dance music to a more rarefied ambient practice, supplies an instinct for atmosphere that knows when to envelop and when to withdraw. Together, they operate less like collaborators and more like accomplices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Machen reference is crucial, not as literary garnish but as structural DNA. In the original text, &#8220;Vinum Sabbati&#8221; is a substance that alters its subjects from the inside out, turning latent corruption into something grotesquely visible. The music mirrors this process with unnerving patience. Sounds rarely arrive fully formed; they seep in, coagulate, and mutate. Drones curdle. Textures itch. Rhythms appear briefly, only to be swallowed by something thicker and less cooperative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The opening \u201cPrelude to Dreadful Confessions by a Doctor\u201d establishes the album\u2019s clinical tone: a cold, observational distance that paradoxically heightens the horror. By the time tracks like \u201cDevil\u2019s Pharmacy\u201d and \u201cThe Rotten Limb\u201d unfold, the sound design has become almost corporeal &#8211; less electronic music than a study in sonic pathology. There\u2019s a dry humor lurking here too, in the refusal to dramatize. The titles scream Grand Guignol; the music responds with a raised eyebrow and a scalpel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What makes the record particularly effective is its sense of restraint. Even at its most oppressive, it avoids the temptation to overwhelm. Dynamic range is treated as a moral issue: silences feel complicit, low frequencies feel invasive, and sudden shifts in density land like unwanted diagnoses. \u201cOminous Remedy &#8211; Transcending Human Condition\u201d stretches this tension beautifully, balancing slow-burning dread with a strange, almost ritualistic calm, as if transcendence were just another side effect listed in small print.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By the closing \u201cScientific Horror\u201d, the album has completed its transformation. Fear here is not theatrical but procedural &#8211; administered carefully, observed closely, and left unresolved. The dedication, \u201cIn memory of those who did not survive the medicine\u201d, stops being metaphorical and starts feeling uncomfortably precise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Vinum Sabbati, In the Dawn of Science Fiction&#8221; is not an easy listen, nor does it pretend to be. It\u2019s an album that understands horror as a process rather than an event, and science fiction as an emotional condition before it ever became a genre. Dur\u00e1n V\u00e1zquez and Kloob don\u2019t offer catharsis; they offer exposure. Drink at your own risk. <em>Vito Camarretta<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chaindlk.com\/reviews\/13328\">Chain DLK<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are albums that flirt with darkness, and then there are albums that&nbsp;brew&nbsp;it slowly, like a dubious tincture simmering in a back room where the light never quite arrives. &#8220;Vinum Sabbati, In the Dawn of Science Fiction&#8221; belongs to the latter. Dur\u00e1n V\u00e1zquez and Kloob don\u2019t just reference Arthur Machen\u2019s unsettling &#8220;Novel of the White &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/?p=11836\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Dur\u00e1n V\u00e1zquez + Kloob\u2019s \u201cVinum Sabbati: In the Dawn of Science Fiction\u201d reviewed by Chain DLK&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[619,23,617],"class_list":["post-11836","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews","tag-619","tag-duran-vazquez","tag-kloob","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11836","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11836"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11836\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11837,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11836\/revisions\/11837"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11836"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11836"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.cronicaelectronica.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11836"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}